Healthy Vegetarian Handmade Mee Hoon Kueh, Ban Mian, U Mian

Sometimes one thing leads to another. While I was at the Vesak Family Day Funfair, the boss of Healthy Vegetarian was distributing the flyer promoting his food stall. Just like the way I deal with email advertisements, flyers given to me usually end up in the nearest trash can. On that day, I managed to hold back this reflex. Otherwise I would have missed this vegetarian stall. Instead of me having to actively search for relevant places to blog about, it's definitely more convenient for the mountain to come to Mohammad.

Initially I planned to visit this stall a week after my post about Vesak Family Day Funfair. However I was distracted by other vegetarian eateries, either because they are newly opened or they serve what was considered exotic to me, a.k.a. foreign cuisines. At this point you probably guess that Healthy Vegetarian sells local dishes. Yes, the stall sells local Chinese food in Berseh Food Centre along Jalan Besar. Going there by bus is the easiest since the nearest MRT, Farrer Park Station, is at least a bus stop away.

Instead of selling a medley of cooked foods, which has become a typical style of vegetarian hawker vendors in Singapore, Healthy Vegetarian more or less focuses on handmade noodles. As the name suggests, handmade noodles are crafted by a human’s hand, as opposed to mass production in factories. Somehow there's this belief that food made by bare hands has a more superior texture. Nowadays, in order to speed things up, most hawker vendors invest in machines to speed up certain processes, hence handmade noodles are seldom 100% handmade. It seems like as long as the vendor prepares the dough from wheat flour in-house, he or she is eligible to carry the name "Handmade noodles" name on the stall. In a typical handmade noodles stall, one gets to choose Ban Mian, U-mian or Mee Hoon Kueh. The shape of the noodles determines its identity. Ban Mian (Board Noodles) and U-mian (Fine Noodles) are strands of Mee Pok (Or Fettuccine) and Ramen lookalikes respectively. Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake), the odd one out, are hand-torn from the dough and flattened into pieces of distorted squares.

The Food

By now a reader who has been following my blog will notice that I have a habit of deviating from the traditional way of having my dish. Even though the result may not always be positive, I enjoy the experimental nature of it. Mee Hoon Kueh is a soup dish, but I requested for the dry version, despite the boss' warning that it would not be as nice.

The major difference between Healthy Vegetarian's mee hoon kueh and the ones I used to know was the extreme flatness of each piece of flour cake. I could not help feeling that I was eating chopped up pieces of hor fun. Then again, making mee hoon kueh this thin might not be a bad idea after all. At least I did not get the sick and bloated feeling characteristic of eating too much of thick starchy dough.

My primary reason for having dry mee hoon kueh was to try the sauce, which the boss revealed was a blend of Chinese sweet sauce and ketchup. Not exactly a one-of-its-kind of formula, but the hint of ketchup flavor instantly won me, a tomato lover, over. At the same time, I discovered why mee hoon kueh is typically cooked in soup. The dry version became dehydrated and sticky after a while. I managed to salvage it by adding a few spoonfuls of the accompanying soup. Actually the mixture of soup and the oil from the sauce rendered the mee hoon kueh smooth and slippery. Of course the boss attributed this positive quality to his excellent noodle making skills. Well, as long as I enjoyed the dish, it did not really matter.

With the exception of economic mixed rice, hawker food tend to be lacking in vegetables. Therefore I always make it a point to ask for more. In order not to pay extra, I exchanged the mock meats, especially the deep fried ones, away for more greens. As with most vegetarian vendors, the boss of Healthy Vegetarian was more than happy to accommodate. He even added that he used locally grown chye sim, hence it was fresher and healthier. I definitely agreed with the fresh part. The health aspect was questionable. Locally grown and organically grown did not mean the same thing. Nevertheless, I am someone (Probably the only one) who like blanched greens, so the chye sim was the first to disappear from the bowl.

Due to the omission of mock fish maw, which happened to be one of the deep fried items, the soup was not as brothy as it should. Thankfully, the presence of seaweed and mushrooms provided some seafood flavor to the clear soup. Since my palate is light and it happened to be a scorching hot day, this would do for me.

Time and again, I complained about mock meats. More specifically, it was the gluten variety that I detested. At Healthy Vegetarian, they used the soy based ones, which was slowly growing on me. In fact I like the way they tasted more like tofu rather than meat. The vendor from the neighboring vegetarian store retorted that non-fried soy based meat tasted awful when I asked if they served steamed chicken rice. Well taste is subjective. As far as I'm concerned the soy based fish cake found in this bowl of soup was delicious.

Rojak is a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The non-vegetarian element of this side dish lies in the dressing which contained shrimps. Even before I adopted a predominantly plant-based diet, I seldom took rojak because I did not like shrimp paste, due to its stale flavor that arises from fermentation. Thus I had less reason to try the vegetarian version. However, rojak seemed to be one of the signature item of Healthy Vegetarian, I decided to sample it.

In my opinion, the most outstanding point of this side dish were the red and green apples. Being a non-traditional ingredient in rojak, I was amazed at how well they complemented with the sweet peanut sauce. Apart from the apples, the rojak contained cucumbers, turnips and you char kway, pretty much the usual stuffs. Ironically the absence of the shrimp paste flavor in vegetarian rojak made me a convert of this Southeast Asian salad.

I have to admit that the boss is not lying when he boasted about the popularity of his rojak. However I do not consume rojak regularly, so I am not sure if his rojak is really phenomenal or this is the typical standard you get from every decent vegetarian rojak vendor.

Conclusion

Very much like its non-vegetarian counterpart, handmade noodles are generally considered the relatively healthier dishes in hawker centres. Generally clean flavored, Healthy Vegetarian deserves its name if you do not compare it to the more expensive Organic cafes.

On a sidenote, the neighboring vegetarian stall has a greater variety of richer and deep fried dishes to offer. I remembered the vendor raving about her deep fried char siew that tasted like the ones from Hong Kong. Then again, which businessman would insult his own product? Well, if that kind of food is your cup of tea, you may want to try it.

Address	:	166 Jalan Besar #02-35 Berseh Food Centre S(208877)
Opening Hours	:	11.00 am - 8.00 pm Closed on Sat
Bus Service	:	23, 64, 65, 66, 67, 130, 139, 147, 857, NR6
MRT Station	:	Farrer Park
Website	:	-

Cafe Le Caire

(Note: This is not a 100% vegetarian eatery. Their interpretation of a vegetarian diet includes eggs and dairy product.)

One Man's junk may be another Man's treasure. This saying is particularly true in email advertising. Every morning, my first task of the day in my office is to delete such emails before I start to read the ones relevant to my work. I choose to remain subscribed because once in a while, there may be some offers which interest me.

This time, the lucky ad that catches my attention comes from Groupon. Normally their food related advertisements end up in my trash folder, since the participating eateries usually serve conventional meat based food. Cafe Le Caire, the eatery featured in Groupon, is no different, however the second point of its highlights reads “Vegetarian options available”.

Situated along Arab Street, Cafe Le Caire specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine. Since this is not a culture I am familiar with, I can only rely on its menu to infer what their dishes are like. After all this cafe claims to serve authentic Middle Eastern cuisine. It seems like quite a number of their dishes, particularly the dips and salads, are made with plant-based ingredients, like chickpeas and sesame seeds, hence no modification is required to make them vegetarian. Olive oil is their preferred form of fats and spices are used to flavour the dishes. Hopefully that translates to little or better still, no MSG added. Although the vegetarian/non-vegetarian split is not even, with the scale tipping more towards meat based dishes, there are enough choices for the vegetarians. Upon request, they are also willing to omit cheese or eggs from some of the dishes to cater to the vegans.

The Food

Mezze is a good set meal to introduce Middle Eastern cuisine to someone new to it. Comprising of an assortment of dips, salads and pickles, they are served in small quantities so that one gets to sample as many different kinds of appetizers as possible, while leaving enough stomach space for the main course. At Cafe Le Caire, seven items from their dips menu are chosen to make up their mezze. All of them are generally suitable for the vegetarians. The only questionable item is Gibna Mahrus, which contains feta cheese. According to the waitress, it could only be substituted with one of the other six appetizers, instead of a totally different dip or salad of equal or lesser value. What a boring alternative! In the end, the dish was ordered as it was.

Anyway, here’s the dishes, with the menu description in italics (Starting from top right hand corner).

1. Gibna Mahrus - Tangy feta cheese and tomatoes dip.

One has to like cheese to enjoy this salty and milky dip. There was hardly any tomato flavour. On hindsight I should have taken the waitress' advice to get this replaced.

2. Arabic Salad - Refreshing mix salad of feta cheese, green and black olives, capsicums, tomatoes, cucumbers and pine nuts.

When served as part of this mezze, feta cheese was omitted, much to my delight. As promised in the menu, this salad was indeed refreshing, making it an appropriate counterbalance to the richer dishes. Sighing at the cheesy Gibna Mahrus, I deeply regretted not exchanging it away for an extra serving of Arabic salad.

3. Babaganush - Dip made of oven roasted eggplant pureed with tahini, a sesame seeds paste. Served on a plate with olive oil drizzled.

According to the menu, this dish is one of the boss' favourite. I shared the same sentiment. The smokey flavor exuded by the roasted eggplant blended surprisingly well with the touch of sourness provided by the lemon juice, leaving me yearning for more.

4. Plate of Tahina - Smooth and thick sesame paste of ground sesame seeds

I was no stranger to Tahina. Afterall, I had a jar of Melrose brand Tahini at home. However I had to admit that this freshly in-house produced version was smoother and the bitterness was even fainter.

5. Hummus - Smooth chickpea dip with hints of tahini and mixed spices. Drizzled with lemon and olive oil

I would not be surprised if the mixed spices used here turned out to be the ones used in Indian cuisine. Without the lemon juice, I would have thought I was eating some chickpea masala. Nevertheless, it was satisfying enough for me if I stopped searching for that something special.

6. Hummus bil Tomato - Soft whole chickpeas with tangy tomato cubes and small cut chilli. Just a little spicy.

Contrary to the menu description, this dish was not spicy at all. In fact, it reminded me of the tomato paste used in Mediterranean dishes, such as pasta and pizza. Strong tomato flavor always works well with me, and this dish was no exception. Being a tomato lover, adding more of the "tangy tomato cubes" would significantly improve the dish for me.

7.Plate of Olives - Plate of green olives with pickles

These dishes, especially the dips, are meant to be eaten with the Arabic bread, which is inclusive in this set. Arabic bread is simple unleavened bread made of flour, water and salt. Since no yeast or leavening agent is used, the bread is quite tough to bite. Luckily whoever invented the recipe way back then had the common sense to flatten it. For a food that was not meant to be eaten on its own, I could forgive the bread for being plain and uninteresting.

Although Mezze did not manage to get a perfect score from me, it still ranked high with the better vegetarian dishes I had tried so far. It certainly did an above average job in the taste department. What I thought was even more praiseworthy was the creative Middle Eastern cooking method in turning the unassuming plant based ingredients into novel looking dishes, thus tempting me to pay more than usual just to try it. No regrets doing so though.

Foul mesdammes - The national breakfast dish of Egypt. It consists of slow-cooked fava beans that have been partially or completely mashed.

At Cafe Le Caire, the creamy texture of this dish indicated that the fava beans were completely mashed. With a robust flavour that attributed to the use of aromatic spices, foul closely resembled a finely minced meat stew. This satiating dish definitely deserves its title of national breakfast dish of Egypt. At S$4.50, it is one of the cheaper yet filling dishes on the menu. Do remind the waitress to leave out the egg if it is forbidden in your diet.

Salata Laban Ma’na’aana - Freshly cubed cucumbers topped with refreshing yoghurt.

Unlike the rest of the dishes, this cucumber salad was served cold. Submerged in a pool of plain yogurt, each individual cube inherited the tartness of the fermented milk. Pleasantly refreshing at the first few mouthfuls, the excessive amount of yogurt dressing made it a little sick as I progressed further into the dish.

Conclusion

If not for the S$25.00 voucher I paid $12.50 for, I would consider having a meal at Café Le Caire a luxury. Besides I am someone with a light palate, so I do not see myself eating such foods on a regular basis, no matter how delicious they are. Still it is a place worth considering to have a vegetarian meal on special occasions.

Address	:	-
Opening Hours	:	-
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Bugis
Website	:	-

Xin Yi Vegetarian

Not long after I thanked VSS e-newsletter for introducing Hozen Vegetarian Cafe a couple of posts ago, the following issue alerted me to yet another newly opened vegetarian eatery. This notification landed me in International Plaza near Tanjong Pagar MRT station (Yay no more Bugis or Aljunied! ). With Loving Hut Cafe in the same building and Whole Earth nearby, this area is not exactly deprived of vegetarian eateries. To a vegetarian however, an additional choice of a place to dine at is never too much.

Based on what is printed on the shop front, I infer that Xin Yi Vegetarian is a subsidiary of Earth Kitchen, also in International Plaza. Unlike Xin Yi, Earth Kitchen is a non-vegetarian eatery. Since I went there with an empty stomach, figuring out the exact relationship between these two eateries was less important than selecting something to tame my hunger. After scanning through the extensive menu, I decided that the set meals were the more value for money choices. Call me stingy if you like but I do not pay anything above S$6.00 for a meal just to eat gluten or common hawker fare. Hence I ordered mini hotpot set. At a price of S$8.80, the set comes with a pot of nourishing (According to the Chinese name) mixed vegetable soup, a bowl of white rice and a small plate of tempura items. Upon request, one can substitute white rice with brown rice at an additional cost of 50 cents.

The Food

Never underestimate the importance of reading fine prints. That's the lesson I learned at Xin Yi. When my food arrived, the tempura side dish captured my attention first because it looked nothing like what I saw on the menu (Click here to see the menu which opens up in a new window or tab. Pay attention to the footnote which reads “All pictures are for visual reference only”). Instead of tempura vegetables, all I had resembled shreds of tempura batter. Sampling a couple of them confirmed my observation. Crispy and a little heavily seasoned, I believed this side dish would be enjoyed by anyone who loved to snack on packets of salty titbits found commonly in Mama Shops. Unfortunately (But fortunate for my health), I preferred whole food to these “goodies” these days.

The mini hotpot soup itself contained a reasonable amount of mushrooms, especially the premium shimeji variety, to prevent me from labelling this set meal a rip off. Generously filling up the soup, the Chinese cabbage had a natural sweetness, meaning that the inner portion of the vegetable, also my favourite part, was used. Other born to be sweet ingredients include the chunks of pumpkin, sweet corn and taro. Herbal soup base was used to further justify the price. I’m sure Chinese in general would appreciate the health value of these herbs but to the non-Chinese, the flavour might be an acquired taste. What could have been the saving grace of this set meal was undermined by excess seasoning, particularly pepper. If I was not famished that day, I might have skipped the soup itself.

After finishing the soup, I felt rather warm despite the strong air-conditioning. Either the herbs used in the soup were of warming nature or there’s simply too much pepper. Therefore I do not recommend this set meal to individuals with a yang body constitution, aka “heatiness”. If you aren’t familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine, simply avoid this soup on a hot day. Nourishment, in the Chinese context, is very different from what we are taught in modern science.

Conclusion

Although it is partially my fault for missing out on the disclaimer, I still feel a little cheated because of the tempura side dish. Previously, when I dined at slightly more expensive places such as Honzen or Trust, what I saw on the menu was pretty much what I got. While I do not expect an exact replica of what is shown in the photograph, at the very least, the ingredients should match.

Normally I do not have much reason to travel to Tanjong Pagar. Price is also a deterrent. Hence I do not see myself returning to Xin Yi Vegetarian. However if I happen to be around that area on a weekday, I may try their slightly cheaper vegetarian curry rice, which is only available on the weekdays.

Address	:	10 Anson Road Internation Plaza #01-50A, Tanjong Pagar, S(579903)
Opening Hours	:	Mon - Sat, 11:00 am - 3.00 pm, 5:00 pm - 11.30 pm
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Tanjong Pagar
Website	:	http://www.facebook.com/xinyiveg

Happy Vesak Family Day Funfair 2011

Following Sunny’s blog is an excellent way to get the latest information about vegetarian related event. Actually she has diligently updated the sidebar of her blog with various religious and health events. Personally I am more interested in the ones about food. Having missed the Vegetarian Food Fair at Ngee Ann City a few weeks ago, I made a mark on my calendar to make myself available for this one.

This event was meant to commemorate Vesak Family day. Being an event of Buddhist nature, a vegetarian food fair was included. Held on 29th May 2011 in the open field near Eunos MRT station, the fair was extremely crowded. Much to my delight, the booths were dominated by cooked food and snacks, which matched my agenda of the day.

The Food

Disappointment was the first feeling that hit me, since I was expecting some exotic flavour from a cuisine that I hardly had any exposure to. As I recalled my Geography lesson from way back, I remembered that Sri Lanka is quite near to the southern part of India, which could explain the sense of familiarity I had. Notwithstanding the general similarity in flavour between this rice set and a typical South Indian dish, I had to admit that the curry-flavoured potatoes and chick peas were enjoyable enough. Concealed beneath the brown rice were a few thinly sliced bitter gourds. Being a salad dish, the gourds retained a significant amount of raw bitterness, only to be appreciated by fanatics of bitter gourd (me included).

In my opinion, the most interesting feature of this rice set was the jackfruit curry. If you had problem finding this side dish in the picture, I could understand. Initially I was reluctant to touch the brownish pile of what I thought was mock mutton and left it to the end. When I finally tried it, I was surprised by how it felt more like eating some fruits. During that time, I did not know this was jackfruit. Instead my mind was drawing a weird hypothesis that gluten would acquire a fruit-like texture when stewed too long. At that instance, my initial disappointment gave way to the curiosity of trying something for the very first time.

After I finished this delicious rice set, I returned to the booth of Mahakaruna Buddhist Society to enquire more about this interesting side dish. That was how I learnt that what I had eaten was actually jack fruit, not mock meat. Sensing my desire to take some pictures, the volunteer generously opened the lid for me to do so. He requested that I shot in an angle that did not show the oil. Sir, thank you for your kind gesture, but I still prefer to show my readers things as they were.

These were some of the other items I had bought at the fair so as to use up my coupons. The almond bean curd dessert at the top, though had a rich almond taste, carried a hint of milk. Due to this experience I made it a point to ask the volunteers, especially those selling cakes, if eggs were used and I got quite a few positive answers. Then again it was unfair to accuse the organizer for misleading the public. After all, this was a vegetarian food fair, not a vegan food fair.

Conclusion

After exploring the entire food fair, I concluded that the Sri Lanka Vegetarian Set meal was the most value-for-money and best tasting item I had bought at the fair. Thinking back, I regretted not asking the volunteers if the society opened an eatery that sold similar food items.

A little improvement I would like to see is to have the coupons fully in smaller denomination, say S$1.00, to make payment easier. Other than that, I am certainly looking forward to such events in future.

Organizer	:	Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic
Venue	:	Eunos MRT open field
Date / Time	:	29 May 2011, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Eunos
Website	:	http://www.sbfc.org.sg/

Honzen Cafe

Now that I think back, I was thankful to the day I signed up for the VSS E-newsletter. Hence I get to know about Honzen cafe at the convenience of just reading my emails. This cafe is another addition to Bugis, which was already crowded with vegetarian eateries. However, it is located in North Bridge Commercial Complex (Opposite Bugis Junction), away from the rest of its competitors in or near Fortune Centre.

Despite an upmarket style of interior design, the service crew were actually quite down to earth, so were the price of the main course in general. Rice dishes, especially fried rice, dominated the menu. Apart from that, there were a few soup ramen and spaghetti dishes to choose from.

The Food

Before my food arrived, I was given a small cup fruit enzyme vinegar. It was basically a mildly sweet berry flavored drink. Even if it was not free-of-charge, I would not complain about its portion since drinks of this nature was never meant to be consumed in large quantity.

So what is the X-factor behind Honzen special rice? Here's the answer: the rice grain was shaped into a cone. Sealed its fate by flattening the mound with the cutleries as one began to tuck in, all that was left was plain brown rice. It did not help that its portion size was dismal. The accompanying ingredients, however, were the showstopper of this self-claimed special dish.

Flanking the surrounding of the rice, these ingredients not only appealed visually with their array of colors, but also treated ones taste buds to a range of flavors. Starting with the gelatinous black fungus, the tangy undertone attributed to the use of vinegar was a great appetite stimulator. Next up, the crunchy assortment of well-roasted cashew nuts, seeds (pumpkin and sunflower) and dried fruits (Cranberries, sultanas and goji berries) was like a fantasy to any tidbits-loving individual. Tossed them into the raw alfalfa sprouts and lettuce, and a lovely sweet and savory salad was created. Moving on to the traffic lights trio of bell peppers, they were probably lightly sautéed since their natural sweetness was retained. The same could be said for the green beans although the flavor was more subtle.

A typical Chinese habit was to have a small bowl of clear soup at the side of relatively dry main course. The soup of the day was brewed using old cucumber, which was believed to have cooling properties. According to the waitress, the main ingredients used for the soup of the day was determined by the weather condition. Seems like this cafe adheres to the Chinese yin-yang system, which I am a recent convert of. Red dates, wolf berries, ginger and carrots were added, both for extra herbal flavor and nourishments. Although it was on the verge of tastelessness, it harmonized well with the main course.

With so many food items to keep my stomach busy, I could easily forgive the cafe for the minor misrepresentation in the naming of this dish. The lack of something “special” in Honzen rice, was adequately compensated by the value-for-money factor. However the S$6.90 was only a promotional price. I was told that the price would increase to S$8.90 in future. Hopefully they would at least serve more rice when that happened.

Citron tea is a Korean traditional tea made from thinly sliced citron with its peel and combined with honey or sugar. Since no tea leaves is used, there is hardly any bitterness typically found in tea. In Honzen cafe, you could choose whether you want to have this drink hot or cold. I chose the hot version, which turned out to be lukewarm, but I would not complain in this case. Being scalded by a piping hot drink did not sound pleasant to me anyway. This sweet citrusy drink was a nice thirst quencher. I also hoped the peel found in the drink was edible since I had eaten some of them.

Conclusion

I wonder if the rising number of organic eateries in Singapore accurately mirrors the increase in number of health conscious locals. It will be great if it does. Instead of worrying about the medical cost that keeps heading north with no sign of turning back, why not keep ourselves healthy so that we are less likely to use those services? I believe our ex Health minister, Khaw Boon Wan, was trying to bring across this message but I don't think most Singaporeans appreciate that.

Hence I am grateful to Honzen cafe for providing me another choice of healthy and delicious vegetarian food. My real complaint for this cafe is that it is closed on Sundays and Public holidays, when I am more free to explore food outside of my work place near Aljunied MRT station.

Address	:	470 North Bridge Road, #01-01 North Bridge Commercial Complex, S(188735)
Opening Hours	:	Mon - Sat, 11.00 am - 9.30 pm Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays
Bus Service	:	7, 32, 51, 61, 63, 80, 145, 175, 197, 851
MRT Station	:	Bugis
Website	:	http://www.honzencafe.com.sg/

QQ Rice - Novena Square 2

{Note: This is NOT a 100% vegetarian eatery. However close to 50% of the menu does cater to vegetarians.)

Rice is considered plain to most people when consumed on its own. Yet this property, which appears to be a weakness at first, actually renders rice one of the most versatile food around. It can be served plain to complement other dishes, especially the heavily seasoned ones. Alternatively, one can whip up a one-dish meal by cooking the rice, with other ingredients, salt, herbs and/or spices.

An interesting way to eat rice, in my opinion at least, is to knead the grains like a dough into any three-dimensional shape. To achieve this feat, only rice grains with adhesive nature is used. Stuffings can be included for extra flavor. This rice dish is common among the oriental community, for example the Chinese rice dumpling (Zongzi) and the Japanese rice ball (Onigiri).

To stand out in the F & B industry today, novelty is crucial. QQ Rice takes this cue, by incorporating other grains into their rice roll, instead of sticking to the safe tradition of using purely glutinous rice or short grain rice. Its signature product, purple rice, has a glamorous history of being exclusive to the ancient Chinese Emperors, and forbidden for anyone else. Touted to contain high quantity of iron and antioxidants, and blessed with a splash of rich purple coat, it is sure to trigger enough curiosity among consumers to at least try it once. Boasting a non-flatulent technology by adding digestive enzymes to the rice, I can see the zealous effort put in by QQ Rice to target the steadily growing health conscious market.

Follow these steps if you want to try this dish.

1. Head on to Novena Square 2, the venue of my review, or its other 2 newly opened branches in Jurong IMM and Boon Lay Jurong Point.
2. Choose your rice from this list: brown rice, mixed grain, purple rice, wheat germ, wheat five, red rice.
3. Choose 5 fillings. There are 24 vegetarian fillings to choose from.
4. Unfortunately the sauces may not be vegetarian, so I suggest that you skip this step.
5. By default, the food here are meant to be takeaways, so do remind the service crew if you want to dine-in in the limited space available in the eatery.

The Food

As I tore open the plastic wrapping, the purple rice roll made a pleasant first impression by charming my sense of smell with a mild peppery aroma that reminded me of five spice powder. On sinking my teeth into the rice, I was surprised that the rice did not have much taste apart from its natural nutty flavor, suggesting that no seasoning was added. Hence the combination of fillings was crucial. If your rice roll tasted horrible, blamed it on your wrong choices of ingredients. What a sly way to shirk responsibility!

Anyway, here's what I had chosen for the purple rice roll: 1) emperor vegetable (premium) 2) burdock 3) seaweed salad 4) sweet corn 5) mushroom. This particular combination had a savory sweetness characteristic of Japanese cuisines, which was within my expectation since the seaweed salad was a food of Japanese origin. After I tested the crunchy emperor vegetable and burdock individually (Both of them new to me, especially emperor vegetable), I realized that they too shared this flavor. The mushroom however was the one that contributed the five spice powder like fragrance.

In a nutshell, chewing on the purple rice roll was akin to eating a grainy version of Chinese rice dumpling. I thoroughly enjoyed my mouthwatering selection of items which had successfully spiced up the subtly flavored rice.

Broccoli must be a really expensive vegetable. When I asked for this filling, the service crew only scooped up two miserable florets. There was a minute improvement in the quantity of cherry tomatoes, Japanese cucumber and burdock given. Surprisingly she was rather generous with the shimeji mushroom, probably because it was classified as a premium item. 30 cents sure made a whole lot of difference.

Compared to the purple rice, the mixed grain rice roll did a even better job in living up to its name of QQ Rice. I supposed containing a mixture of twelve mostly unrefined grains helped in increasing its chewiness. However, like the purple rice, it also relied on the fillings to enhance its taste. Due to the presence of some raw ingredients and the lightly blanched broccolis in this combination of fillings, the mixed grains rice roll acquired a crisp and natural flavor. If I was lucky to pick up the sparsely distributed cherry tomatoes, there would be an additional tartness. This mixture of light flavors harmonized well with the slightly peppery shimeji mushrooms.

I adored this combination of fillings as much as the one I chose for the purple rice roll. Portion wise, I seriously believed the mixed grain rice roll could afford to pack a few more broccoli florets without falling apart.

Curiosity made me fork out extra cash to try the purple rice juice. Anyway, I got a 50 cents discount since I bought it with the rice roll. It turned out to be a simple and mildly sweet drink. Guess I was paying for the health benefits it provided rather than the taste.

Conclusion

Novelty may be a good way to market a food business in the beginning, but to survive in the long run, taste is still the ultimate determinant. The fact that QQ Rice have gone on to open another 2 branches proves that it does well in the taste department too.

If you are a vegetarian who happen to be around Novena and you need to have a meal, this is a viable option, provided that you are comfortable eating in a non-vegetarian eatery. At a starting price of S$ 4.00 per rice roll (I doubt we are limited to just 5 fillings), I find it affordable enough. It is definitely nice to eat something different from the usual vegetarian dishes once in a while.

Address	:	10 Sinaran Drive, #01-06, Square 2, Singapore 307506
Opening Hours	:	7.30 am - 9.30 pm
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Novena
Website	:	http://qqrice.sg

Xiu Yuan Good Food Cafe

At this time of the year, our friends in the northern hemisphere are slowly approaching summer, whereas we, the inhabitants of Singapore, are already experiencing this season in its full glory. When the weather is extremely hot, I prefer simple and light meals so as not to put further burden on my digestive system.

I may have lamented about Bugis in one of my previous posts. Then again, I also have to admit that it is one of the “safer” places in Singapore for vegetarians to go to. When it comes to the amount of vegetarian eateries available, if Bugis declares itself the runner-up, no where else in Singapore dares to claim the top spot. To me, finding vegetarian food that suits my light palate is not easy, because Singaporeans in general likes rich and deep flavor. As a result I usually can't find something I like in vegetarian stalls offering only the standard fare. With numerous choices in Bugis, I should be able to find a place to dine at, such as Xiu Yuan Good Food Cafe, which offers a good mix of light and heavy flavored food.

Xiu Yuan certainly has no qualms showing off its vast menu, as seen on the neatly arranged food gallery on its wall. In fact, they have so much items that the wall runs out of space and they have to display the rest of the pictures on a white board. Thanks to those appetizing looking images, I get to find out what they sell without having to ask. Needless to say, I was delighted to see a variety of clear soup dishes.

The Food

One look at the noodles of spinach noodles soup dish told me that it was store-bought, not homemade. Considering that it cost only four dollars, not that paying this much for a small bowl of noodles was cheap, expecting the cook to make the noodles herself was a still little too much. If I did not find spinach and enoki mushroom as part of the ingredient list, I would have felt totally ripped off. Flavor wise, it was no different from the thin yellow noodles used in wonton mee. Even the act of contributing a lye water taste to the soup was similar. Fortunately, the salt and MSG content was fairly low, thus the entire content was still bearable by my standard.

Although the cook added quite a lot of ingredients, as a whole, the ingredients had an incongruous throw-in-whatever-I-can-find-in-the-fridge feel. They tasted all right though, just short of exceptional. Overall, this noodle soup dish had an almost close to bland taste which was occasionally punctuated by the seasoned mock fish ball and fish cakes. It might have satisfied my requirement on that day, but I could not help having an unjustified feeling at the back of my mind for the four dollars price tag.

Amaranth (Yin choy) mini pot soup came with a solid fuel burner. Despite the massive set-up, the soup only made up about one-third of the entire assembly. Closing one eye to the portion size, I still enjoyed the clear and light soup that generally maintained the natural flavor of amaranth greens, with a subtle enhancement by the Chinese parsley garnishing. This soup dish shared almost the same ingredient list as spinach soup noodles. Personally I would have preferred the proportion of ingredients to skew towards the greens, after all the dish was called amaranth mini pot soup.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the noodles, which was supposed to be a side to accompany the soup, containing more than just noodles. That made me feel better paying S$1.50 for it. The noodles was soft as opposed to the firm elasticity that most people raved about after the Taiwanese started this QQ trend. One had to share my inclination towards foods that were easy on the teeth to accept this. Contrary to what you might see in the picture, there were more mung bean sprouts burying among the noodles. They added some crunchiness when eaten together with the noodles. Since I did not take spicy food, I requested for the chili sauce to be left out, and was left with a watered down version that consisted only of a blend of vegetarian oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and seasonings that I would rather not know about. Nevertheless, the overall taste was satisfactory enough to act as a contrast to balance with the relatively blander soup.

Conclusion

I may complain a lot about their pricing in my reviews. To be fair to them, there are cheaper items on their menu too. Perhaps as a punishment to my fussy taste bud on that day, I somehow chose the more expensive ones. If the weather of Singapore doesn't cool down any time soon, this might just be one of the places I frequent for lunch.

Address	:	190 Middle Rd, Fortune Centre #02-18
Opening Hours	:	Mon - Sun, 8.30 am - 8.30 pm Rest on Wed
Bus Service	:	56, 64, 65, 131, 131A, 139, 147, 147A, 166
MRT Station	:	Bugis
Website	:	-

Loving Heart Cafe 2

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Geylang is a haven for vegetarian food, more specifically Chinese vegetarian food. As far as I know, it seems like all the vegetarian eateries in this area are owned by the Chinese. Fortunately, many of them diversify their menu by offering a few common non-Chinese cuisines, particularly those of Malay and Indian ethnicity. Speaking of Indian food, it is always just nasi briyani.

Loving Heart Cafe is an exception to the above rule. After reviewing its sweet potato porridge in April, it becomes one of the places I have lunch at on working days. Since I frequent this cafe, I get to witness the measures it implements to distinguish itself from the neighboring Kwan Im Zhai. The most significant one is the introduction of a range of Indian dishes apart from briyani (Briyani is there as well though). Loving Heart goes one step further by hiring Indian chefs to whip up these dishes. While it does not offer much varieties of Indian breads, I see quite a few flavored rice dishes, all of which I have never heard of. That gives me enough reason to do a second review on it.

The Food

Please pardon my feeble attempt at creating an Indian-Chinese fusion cuisine. The Indian and Chinese components of this dish were coriander rice and the vegetables from the economic rice section respectively. I was supposed to eat the rice with potato mock chicken (Based on my observation) curry and achar. Although I was assured by whom I suspected was the lady boss, that the curry was not spicy, the scorching hot weather deterred me from trying anyway. In the end I picked the amaranth greens and hairy gourd side dishes to go with the coriander rice.

Since the star of the dish was coriander rice, allow me to take this opportunity to share something interesting about coriander leaves which I read online. Due to genetic factor, certain people perceive the taste of this herb to be soapy. Needless to say, they hate coriander leaves to the core. On the other hand, lovers of coriander detected a more pleasant citrus overtone. In the case of this dish, I tasted neither. Apart from giving the rice a green hue and packing it with plenty of health benefits, the ground coriander leaves did not contribute much in terms of taste. Instead, the rice was dominated by the nutty and peppery flavor of cumin seed, which I found appetizing nonetheless.

Although it was not compulsory to use basmati rice, the texture of this dish could have been further enhanced if done so. The chef could also go a little easier on the oil.

Unlike the coriander rice, the lemon, or rather its juice, did impart the expected citrus taste to the rice, so that one knew he or she was indeed eating lemon rice. The mild sourness actually went very well with the Indian spices. I found it a pity that the rice was not thoroughly mixed, hence I did not get to relish this delicious blended flavor in every mouthful.

While having achar as one of the sides bestowed a more “Indian” identity to the dish, its strong sweet and sour taste eventually overpowered the savoriness of the lemon rice. Ironically, the hopelessly mismatched Chinese vegetables coriander rice combo had the relatively lighter tasting vegetables sitting at the sideline, hence allowing the flavor of the rice to stand out more.

I also preferred basmati rice to be used in this case. It would be great if all the flavored Indian rice dishes made use of this grain, but I guessed the boss wanted to save money, so he or she decided to use the same long grained rice used for the Chinese dishes.

Conclusion

There is certainly rooms for improvement with regards to the Indian dishes. However for people in the Geylang area who crave for Indian food but are too lazy to travel elsewhere, I would say whatever Loving Heart Cafe has is decent enough.

Address	:	Blk 134 Geylang East Ave 1 #01-219 Singapore 380134
Opening Hours	:	-
Bus Service	:	2, 13, 21, 26, 40, 51
MRT Station	:	Aljunied
Website	:	-

Email Reply From Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant

I had just received an email reply from Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant. After getting their permission to publish the reply, I took a screenshot of the relevant portion. Check it out below, vegetarian status of Prata Wala straight from the horse's mouth (Click on it to enlarge):

Here I conclude that this place is suitable for vegetarians who do not mind dining in a non-vegetarian eating place. In addition, Prata Wala has much more to offer for the vegetarians than the 3 dishes I mentioned previously. So vegetarians who happen to be at NEX can go try it out. Good luck in finding a seat though.

Address	:	23 Serangoon Central NEX Shopping Centre #02-K5/K6
Opening Hours	:	Mon - Thu & Sun, 10.00am - 10.00pm Fri, Sat, Eve of Public Holidays, 10.00am – 11.00pm
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Serangoon
Website	:	www.pratawala.com

Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant

(Note: This is NOT a 100% vegetarian eatery. I asked the cashier if they used separate utensil for the vegetarian dishes. She did not seemed to understand my question and only told me the meat and vegetables were served in different trays. What an ambiguous reply. To play safe, I DO NOT recommend this place to strict vegetarians who do not want their cutleries and utensils to be tainted with non-vegan ingredients. Please see here for latest update.)

On Saturday, I went to NEX Mall to perform the mundane task of depositing a cheque. Whenever I stepped into NEX, I always recall reading one blogger's post lamenting its total lack of vegetarian eatery . Sorry for only remembering the complaint, not the blogger's identity. Anyway he or she is right. Despite boasting two food courts, a slew of restaurant Goliaths and of course its huge size, you cannot find a pure vegetarian dining place. Yes, not even a humble food court stall selling the most common vegetarian economic rice or bee hoon. However, for vegetarians who do not mind relaxing the standard a little, they can still find something to eat there. Based on what I read from the vegetarian blogs that I follow, there are some of them who are comfortable about dining in a non-vegetarian eatery, so long as there is a vegetarian item in the menu. In my case, I am not even a vegetarian, therefore this arrangement is more than enough for me. After I left the bank and having loads of time to spare, I decided to explore NEX, paying special attention to the details in the menu (If available for display outside the eatery). That was how I spotted Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant.

In Prata Wala (A cute catchy name there), only the cooking and ordering areas are enclosed in a unit. Patrons have to dine in the open but since everything is housed within the air-conditioned shopping mall, it is not much of an issue unless one needs more privacy. More importantly, I spotted two vegetarian dishes, namely vegetarian white rice set and vegetarian murtabak. That has already made it better than Subway on the second floor. As usual, my camera was not with me and besides I had eaten, so I planned to visit it on another day, but only after much hesitation.

You see, my relationship with Indian cuisine is not a fairytale. Unlike majority of the Singaporeans, I do not take hot and spicy food. There is neither a health nor a religious reason behind it. I simply fail to acquire this taste. My worst dining out nightmare is when a nimble hawker adds a dollop of chili sauce into my food without asking if I want it, just because I am a Singaporean. Therefore I tend to avoid cuisines that are meant to be hot and spicy, sadly missing out on an epic proportion of delicacies. Indian food is one fine example. I have never sampled anything beyond the generic roti prata with sugar or egg. Then again, this blog has made me a little more adventurous in my taste-bud. I am also getting a little tired of Bugis and Aljunied, as most of the places there have received extensive coverage in other blogs. Armed with a large water bottle, I decided to give it a go.

Again, what I had in mind, which was vegetarian murtabak, was not available. I asked for vegetarian white rice set and got the same reply from the cashier. She told me that the only vegetarian dish available was vegetarian briyani set. So there's a third vegetarian dish. In terms of price, I only needed to pay 50 cents more. It was certainly a blessing in disguise that the white rice set decided to take a break that day.

The Food

The vegetarian briyani set consisted of briyani rice, daal, achar, pappadom and 2 vegetable dishes of my choice. I selected potato masala and cabbage side dish, since they were the only ones that were not reddish in color, meaning they were unlikely to be very hot. And I was right.

The potato masala was not totally mashed up, so I could still feel the chunks that easily turned to a smooth paste as I chewed on them. It was also lightly spiced so the original flavor was more or less retained. When taken with the rice, the potato masala enriched the rice with additional creaminess. Speaking of the rice, it possessed the free flowing quality characteristic of basmati. As someone who grew up eating jasmine rice, I found the soft grainy texture refreshing. The rice was not heavily spiced to the point of overwhelming the fragrance of the rice. Instead it was only lightly salted to develop the savory taste. I could eat the briyani rice on its own. Another enjoyable factor of this dish for me was the daal, that tasted like a bowl of viscous minestrone soup. Surprisingly it was not spicy at all. Having more whole beans or lentils in it for the extra bite would make me love it more than I already did.

When compared to the rest of the ingredients, the cabbage side dish could easily fade into oblivion if not for the crunch to remind me of its existence. It was not awful or anything, just average and forgettable. Nevertheless, as long as it was not too hot, I was already grateful. The real sore point was the rubbery pappadom which I had expected to be crispy. Or was it meant to be this way?

What I adored most about this dish was in spite of its sinful appearance, the dish was not too greasy or over-seasoned. Instead it achieved its great taste by a clever combination of herbs and spices. Looks like I have another option when it comes to choosing a dish to feature in my blog.

Conclusion

It is wonderful to see more non-vegetarian eateries offering something for the vegetarians. Doing so actually incurs extra cost on the business as there is a need to purchase an extra set of utensils and cutleries solely for the vegetarian dishes. Therefore I deeply appreciate the endeavors of these eateries.

As for Prata Wala Cafe Restaurant, I am not sure where it stands. While it serves good food, I think it is equally important for them to be a little more precise in their definition of "vegetarian". At this juncture, I shall remain reserved on my judgement while waiting for an email reply from them to confirm the "purity" of their vegetarian dishes.

Latest Update: Click here to see the reply from Prata Wala.

Address	:	23 Serangoon Central NEX Shopping Centre #02-K5/K6
Opening Hours	:	Mon - Thu & Sun, 10.00am - 10.00pm Fri, Sat, Eve of Public Holidays, 10.00am – 11.00pm
Bus Service	:	-
MRT Station	:	Serangoon
Website	:	www.pratawala.com